Orange Beach rising senior Chris Pearson is staying home and will head to the University of Alabama at Birmingham after his final season with the Makos.

Out of his 11 total Division I offers, UAB stood above the rest in Pearson’s eyes so he locked in his verbal commitment Friday afternoon on his Instagram.

“Stayin at the crib,” he said as he held up a UAB football shirt on his Instagram live.

The University of Central Florida and Liberty joined UAB in his top three choices that were revealed June 27. Those offers were in addition to those from Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall, Memphis and Minnesota

According to recruiting service 247Sports, Pearson registered a composite ranking of three stars and a 0.8417 score. Nationally, he was the 104th-ranked safety and in Alabama, he was ranked the 48th overall prospect.

The three-star safety also plays running back and special teams and it was his work ethic that has jumped off the page at new head coach Jamey DuBose.

“He’s a superior athlete with Division I offers and you would think at 4A Orange Beach he could go out there and cruise,” DuBose said at the Baldwin County Media Day July 13. “This guy has repped on offense, repped on defense, he does everything I ask him to do, he’s got a yes sir, no sir attitude and he sells out every day.”

Despite that, both DuBose and Pearson felt as though he was worthy of more attention from the top-tier programs in the Power 5 conferences.

“It is a big motivation for me because I feel like I can play at that SEC level and hopefully I get a chance soon but if not, I’m fine with what I’ve got,” Pearson said July 13.

“I told a college coach at a Power 5 program that signed four of my guys, one of them was a five-star, and I told the head coach on the phone, ‘Chris Pearson is as good as any of them, including the five-star,’” DuBose said. “We get these ‘stars’ sometimes just by going to the right combine or the right offer hits us or something like that. Well Chris, golly, I just think he’s being overlooked right now by a lot of Power 5 programs, I’ll say that.”

While the Makos kicked off their season with their first official practice Monday, DuBose said a goal of his was to get Pearson recognized among the best in his classification.

“I told him the other day my goal is to try and get him 4A Back of the Year,” DuBose said. “That’s what I want to do and that’s what he wants to do, he’s got goals and has been working hard in the weight room.”

Although Pearson has a similar focus, he knows there’s still work to be done and that he’s not alone in the fight.

“It makes me feel good but I just have to keep working,” Pearson said. “The attitude on the team has been good, we’re grinding every day and practicing hard, we just want to improve.”